Asha.Prakash@timesofindia.comA few weeks ago, environment educator’s organisation Palluyir Trust announced an ‘insect walk’, for which 25 people signed up within a day. On the day of the walk, it started raining heavily, but participants kept calling up the organisers, requesting them not to cancel the walk, says Kanishka Padmanabhan of Palluyir. And this has been the case with all their nature events, says Kanishka. “Whenever there is any event announced connected to nature, the slots get filled in half a day.” Palluyir has now decided to make their walks weekly instead of monthly.There are a lot more opportunities now in terms of nature-based events that didn’t exist five years ago, says Anooja A, of Chennai WildUrb club, which recently conducted a nature journaling event. Anooja, who has a master’s in environmental science, started the club with friends to make nature accessible to all geographical areas of Chennai. “People are surprised that Chennai has such varied biodiversity even in the middle of the city, such as in Pallikaranai marshland and Guindy National Park.”And it’s not confined to walks. Anooja’s journaling event encourages people to slow down, observe their surroundings, and be more present and involved as an individual, citizen, human being. “It’s an intimate way to unwind, relax, and connect with nature.”While nature events used to be about spotting popular birds, people are expressing an academic interest in niche subjects now. Palluyir has conducted walks to spot trees, wasps, spiders, dragonflies and butterflies, while Anooja’s event focused on listening to insect calls.Above all, everyone wants time away from screens these days, especially techies, who look for laptop-free hours, says Anooja. “And people are not just identifying coastal fauna, but uploading their observations on citizen science platforms such as iNaturalist.”G Vijay Kumar, honorary secretary of the Madras Naturalists’ Society, says people have the inclination and are hence investing time to spend with nature. Owing to the heat, Palluyir’s walks are mostly held at 6.30am, and people still turn up with children, Kanishka says. “They want the kids to experience nature up close, instead of just spending time in a mall or gaming zone. Children identify insect calls better than adults during our walk.”While there is an increase in young people wanting to join their walks, and know about trees and the city, it should also be about the difference you make, says Shobha Menon, founder of NGO Nizhal.“Given the rate of damage urban biodiversity is facing, it’s not enough that they know about nature and are aware of the threats. They should move to the next step, on how they can protect trees in their areas, and look out for tree abuse.”
